The Decline of America’s Major Urban Centers
America’s largest cities are in trouble. And it seems that few understand exactly what’s going on. Why are...

Reinvigorating the National Defense Industrial...
As in the 20th century, the best way to ensure that a Cold War does not become or “hot one” is by maintaining an...

Space, The Final (Military) Frontier
The Sino-American struggle for 21st-century dominance is complex involving a wide range of intertwined political,...

Directed Energy Weapons Are About to Go Mainstream
For decades, soldiers and technologists have dreamed of a day when directed energy weapons would become a reliable...


Off We Go into the Wild Black Yonder
published on: Oct 15, 2018
Militarizing outer space has been discussed ever since the Sputnik-era. But only recently has the United States taken formal action to make it...

Addressing the Threat from Hypersonic Weapons
published on: Jul 15, 2018
Hypersonic weapons threaten to destabilize the worlds current balance of power. What is a hypersonic weapon? Which countries are developing these...

Emerging Genomic Revolution in Security
published on: Jun 15, 2018
The technology of genomics is just in its infancy and most of its contributions-to-date have been in medicine and forensic investigation. However,...

Big Brother is Alive and Well in China
published on: Jan 15, 2018
As growth has slowed, China has become obsessed with maintaining political and social stability. For the first time in history, the technology...

Policing in the Twenty-First Century
published on: Jan 16, 2017
For millennia, law enforcement was carried out by human police, enforcing a peace between the members of villages, towns, and then cities. Yet, try...

Robots at War
published on: Sep 15, 2016
Ever since World War II, defense spending has provided an extraordinary boost to technologies like advanced materials, aerospace, and information...

The Biggest Unaddressed Threat to Our Security
published on: Mar 16, 2016
While growing income inequality, climate change, and repeats of the terrorists attacks we’ve experienced from radical Islam have all been called...

Computers Everywhere: What It Means for Our...
published on: Jan 4, 2013
Thomas J. Watson, the founder of IBM, once said the worldwide demand for computers might total 10 machines. Later, the head of the world's second...

The Ever-Changing Cyber-Security Threat
published on: Mar 8, 2012
Our careers, our fortunes, and our personal security all depend on the availability and reliability of information systems — and that dependency...

The Internet Grows More Dangerous
published on: Aug 5, 2011
Even as companies large and small work to stem the tide of cybercrime, the situation has gotten worse rather than better. Why is this the case? What...

Directed Energy Weapons Mature
published on: Jun 6, 2011
Directed energy weapons have been featured in science fiction for nearly a century, and they’ve been seriously pursued by researchers for at least...

Defending Your Reputation
published on: Jun 6, 2011
Throughout history, maintaining one’s “good name” has been crucial. Fortunately, until the 21st century, information traveled slowly and only...

Micro-Electromechanical Systems Become Mainstream
published on: Apr 6, 2011
The Trends editors have been tracking the evolution of MEMS technology for nearly two decades. In that time, these tiny systems have become...

The West Begins to Address Chinese Industrial...
published on: Mar 15, 2011
As the Chinese economy becomes larger and more sophisticated, it has ratcheted up efforts to steal trade secrets from North American, Japanese, and...

Machines That Can See
published on: May 15, 2009
Since the earliest days of computing, researchers have dreamed of machines that could mimic seeing the world as people see it. In that case, they'd...

Cyber Warfare: The Growing Threat to Our...
published on: Apr 15, 2009
Most professionals have a pretty good idea about the threat that cyber crime poses to their businesses and their lives. But, few of us appreciate the...